The Idea of the Day® is now 10 years old. It launched in 2004 as a way to help small business owners keep up-to-date on opportunities, changes, and issues vital to them. Since the start, I’ve managed to come up with more than 3,650 unique tips for you.

I thought you’d be interested in some of the back story, so I’ll interview myself.

Where do you get the ideas?
The ideas come from numerous sources. I’m on many email lists of government departments and agencies, such as the IRS, the SBA, and the Department of Labor. The government sends out periodic newsletter, alerts, and other communications about changes of note for small businesses.

I also hear from numerous public relations people around the country who share what their clients are doing. Some share news about new products or services that I think my readers want to know about. Others have surveys and reports of interest to small businesses.

And I read and hear about new things in newsletters, magazines, and the media. In this way I often find financial developments, pending legislation, trends, and new product ideas.

Finally, my husband and my assistant regularly find ideas for me and, on occasion, a reader passes on an idea to me that I share in my Idea of the Day®.

Do you repeat ideas?
I don’t use the same idea twice. However, some are necessarily repetitive, such as tax filing deadlines that recur on the same or similar dates each year. And I try to update ideas when there are developments, such as postal rate increases.

Do you try all of the products you mention?
No. I don’t try all of the apps or other products and services I discuss in my ideas. I do try to verify that the companies offering them are legitimate. In all these years, I only had one reader complain about a product that turned out to be shady (I can’t remember the details now).

Do you ever make mistakes?
Of course -- I’m human. But I try to be very careful with the daily ideas to verify the links and the sources. My assistant does a double-check. Sometimes, however, links do break after an idea has been put into my queue for publication so that readers receive erroneous  links; we then try to fix the problem on my homepage.

Do you take idea suggestions from readers?
Yes. I welcome any ideas that you may have and will gladly give you attribution (e.g., a mention that the idea was suggested by you, with a link to your website).

Last word
With your continued support, I hope to keep bringing you more helpful daily ideas for years to come. Let me hear from you with idea suggestions as well as ways to improve my Idea of the Day®.